"The Three Flaming Dooms!"
Nov. 26th, 2010 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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scans_dailyHi folks!
Hope your Thursday was good, and everyone is quite recovered.
I'm using "Weakness Week" as an excuse to run a few pages of this character...
Can you guess his secret weakness?
For those of you who haven't met the character before, the Silent Knight was actually Brian Kent, son of Sir Edwin Kent. Sir Edwin was co-ruler of a fiefdom with Sir Oswald. Oswald didn't want to share, and treacherously slew Sir Edwin. Brian realized what had happened, but could not speak out against Sir Oswald, as he was now sole ruler, and Brian was not yet of age. So Brian adopted an identity-concealing set of armor to fight for the common people against Sir Oswald's misrule. One problem--the full-face helmet wasn't going to be enough. Brian had a very distinctive voice, so he couldn't go the standard superhero route of lowering it a notch and speaking gruffly; he had to remain silent or have Sir Oswald prove that the outlaw Silent Knight was the same person as Brian Kent and legally have him put to death.
This is a fairly typical story, "The Three Flaming Dooms!" It was originally printed in The Brave and the Bold #15 in 1957, but this is the 1974 reprint in The Brave and the Bold #112. 3 1/3 pages of ten.
Our story opens with the title character making his was through the Forest Perilous, seemingly alone save for his noble steed Rona and his falcon Slasher. (Not that many people go there for some reason.) Suddenly, a flaming arrow with a note attached lands in a tree next to his helmet. (see the cover illo above.) It's the first of the Three Flaming Dooms! The note warns that the bridge ahead is deadly, but the Knight can turn back...if he wants to be considered a coward. Sir Oswald kindly signed the note; he may be a tyrant, but he's not illiterate.
The lasso is not tight enough to prevent the Silent Knight from moving his sword enough to cut it, and then we're treated to an underwater sword fight. (This would look really cool in motion.) Brian wins, but his armor is too heavy for him to swim back to the surface. He stabs his sword into the underside of the wooden bridge, then climbs the sword up to where he can grab the edge of the bridge and pull himself out of the water.
Brian then tells Slasher to fetch the sword. The hawk dives into the water, pulls the sword loose, and then flies out again with the blade in its claws. "Specially trained," my foot! That bird's super-avian.
Flashback time! Brian, apprentice knight, is forced to joust against one of the fiefdom's experienced warriors, Sir Lee, by Sir Oswald in front of Lady Celia (Oswald's unhappy ward and Brian's love interest.) Brian's in a bind; if he loses, he'll be shamed in front of Celia, but if he wins, that will give Oswald more evidence that Brian's not as green as he looks. Brian tries make it look like he only won by luck, but Oswald isn't fooled.
The next day, there's a public proclamation that unless the Silent Knight is a coward, he must ride through the Forest Perilous and face the Three Flaming Dooms of Sir Oswald. Everyone knows it's a trap, but if the Silent Knight fails, the people will lose their faith in their protector.
But faithful Slasher is able to lead his master and Rona to safety just before the Knight's lungs would have given out.
Huzzah!
Your thoughts and comments?
Suggested tags
char: Silent Knight/Brian Kent
creator: Irv Novick
creator: Robert Kanigher
publisher: DC Comics
theme: animals
title: The Brave and the Bold
Hope your Thursday was good, and everyone is quite recovered.
I'm using "Weakness Week" as an excuse to run a few pages of this character...
Can you guess his secret weakness?
For those of you who haven't met the character before, the Silent Knight was actually Brian Kent, son of Sir Edwin Kent. Sir Edwin was co-ruler of a fiefdom with Sir Oswald. Oswald didn't want to share, and treacherously slew Sir Edwin. Brian realized what had happened, but could not speak out against Sir Oswald, as he was now sole ruler, and Brian was not yet of age. So Brian adopted an identity-concealing set of armor to fight for the common people against Sir Oswald's misrule. One problem--the full-face helmet wasn't going to be enough. Brian had a very distinctive voice, so he couldn't go the standard superhero route of lowering it a notch and speaking gruffly; he had to remain silent or have Sir Oswald prove that the outlaw Silent Knight was the same person as Brian Kent and legally have him put to death.
This is a fairly typical story, "The Three Flaming Dooms!" It was originally printed in The Brave and the Bold #15 in 1957, but this is the 1974 reprint in The Brave and the Bold #112. 3 1/3 pages of ten.
Our story opens with the title character making his was through the Forest Perilous, seemingly alone save for his noble steed Rona and his falcon Slasher. (Not that many people go there for some reason.) Suddenly, a flaming arrow with a note attached lands in a tree next to his helmet. (see the cover illo above.) It's the first of the Three Flaming Dooms! The note warns that the bridge ahead is deadly, but the Knight can turn back...if he wants to be considered a coward. Sir Oswald kindly signed the note; he may be a tyrant, but he's not illiterate.
The lasso is not tight enough to prevent the Silent Knight from moving his sword enough to cut it, and then we're treated to an underwater sword fight. (This would look really cool in motion.) Brian wins, but his armor is too heavy for him to swim back to the surface. He stabs his sword into the underside of the wooden bridge, then climbs the sword up to where he can grab the edge of the bridge and pull himself out of the water.
Brian then tells Slasher to fetch the sword. The hawk dives into the water, pulls the sword loose, and then flies out again with the blade in its claws. "Specially trained," my foot! That bird's super-avian.
Flashback time! Brian, apprentice knight, is forced to joust against one of the fiefdom's experienced warriors, Sir Lee, by Sir Oswald in front of Lady Celia (Oswald's unhappy ward and Brian's love interest.) Brian's in a bind; if he loses, he'll be shamed in front of Celia, but if he wins, that will give Oswald more evidence that Brian's not as green as he looks. Brian tries make it look like he only won by luck, but Oswald isn't fooled.
The next day, there's a public proclamation that unless the Silent Knight is a coward, he must ride through the Forest Perilous and face the Three Flaming Dooms of Sir Oswald. Everyone knows it's a trap, but if the Silent Knight fails, the people will lose their faith in their protector.
But faithful Slasher is able to lead his master and Rona to safety just before the Knight's lungs would have given out.
Huzzah!
Your thoughts and comments?
Suggested tags
char: Silent Knight/Brian Kent
creator: Irv Novick
creator: Robert Kanigher
publisher: DC Comics
theme: animals
title: The Brave and the Bold
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 01:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 06:46 pm (UTC)Similarly, there's a bird called Slasher.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 12:50 am (UTC)Also, apparently, Brian is a possible ancestor of Jonathan Kent, and is (poor sod) also a re-incarnation of Khufu/Hawkman (Which suggests that Brian and Celia don't live happily ever after, alas)
no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 01:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 02:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-27 06:55 am (UTC)Also - 'Sir Lee'? Cheerful fellow, was he?